Travel Tip: Art and Archaeology in FranceGabon, présence des esprits

Some 130 scluptures and masks from the African country Gabon are on view at this exceptional French museum.

For example, incredibly similar to Japanese nô masks, mukuyi masks (image at left) have been highly regarded by Western collectors since the beginning of the century. They are used in funeral ceremonies by dancers on stilts. The use of white kaolin pigment is associated with death.